Ellen Raskin (March 13, 1928 – August 8, 1984) was an American children's writer and illustrator. She won the 1979

Newbery Medal The John Newbery Medal, frequently shortened to the Newbery, is a literary award given by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), to the author of "the most distinguished contr ...

for '' The Westing Game'', a mystery novel, and another children's mystery, '' Figgs & Phantoms'', was a Newbery Honor Book in 1975. In 2012 ''The Westing Game'' was ranked number nine all-time among children's novels in a survey published by ''

School Library Journal ''School Library Journal'' (''SLJ'') is an American monthly magazine containing reviews and other articles for school librarians, media specialists, and public librarians who work with young people. Articles cover a wide variety of topics, wi ...

'', a monthly with a primarily-U.S. audience.

Life

Raskin was born in

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

, where she grew up during the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

. She was educated at the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

with a major in fine art. Raskin was an accomplished graphic artist. She worked in New York City as a commercial artist for about 15 years. Among other things, she designed more than 1000 dust jackets for books, including the first edition of

Madeleine L'Engle Madeleine L'Engle (; November 29, 1918 – September 6, 2007) was an American writer of fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and young adult fiction, including ''A Wrinkle in Time'' and its sequels: '' A Wind in the Door'', '' A Swiftly Tilting Planet'' ...

's ''

A Wrinkle in Time ''A Wrinkle in Time'' is a young adult science fantasy novel written by American author Madeleine L'Engle. First published in 1962, the book won the Newbery Medal, the Sequoyah Book Award and the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award, and was runner-u ...

'', the 1963 Newbery Medal winner. In 1957, she married graphic designer Roy Kuhlman, but they soon divorced. In 1960 she married

Dennis Flanagan Dennis Flanagan (July 22, 1919 in New York City – January 14, 2005 in New York City) was the founding editor of the modern Scientific American magazine. In 1947, Flanagan, Donald H. Miller, Jr., under the leadership of Gerard Piel Gerard ...

, editor of ''

Scientific American ''Scientific American'', informally abbreviated ''SciAm'' or sometimes ''SA'', is an American popular science magazine. Many scientists, including Albert Einstein and Nikola Tesla, have contributed articles to it, with more than 150 Nobel Pri ...

.'' Raskin died at the age of 56 on August 8, 1984, in New York City, as a result of a connective-tissue disease.

Education

At the age of 17, Raskin entered the University of Wisconsin with the intention of majoring in journalism. However, after visiting an art exhibit at the

Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the United States. The museum is based in the Art Institute of Chicago Building in Chicago's Grant Park (Chicago), Grant Park. Its collection, stewa ...

, she changed her major to fine arts.

Works

Children's picture books

Raskin wrote and illustrated twelve picture books, published by

Atheneum Books Atheneum Books was a New York City publishing house established in 1959 by Alfred A. Knopf, Jr., Simon Michael Bessie and Hiram Haydn. Simon & Schuster has owned Atheneum properties since it acquired Macmillan in 1994, and it created Atheneum ...

except as noted. *''Nothing Ever Happens on My Block'', 1967 *''Silly Songs and Sad'',

Thomas Y. Crowell Co. Thomas Y. Crowell Co. was a publishing company founded by Thomas Y. Crowell. The company began as a bookbindery founded by Benjamin Bradley in 1834. Crowell operated the business after Bradley's death in 1862 and eventually purchased the compan ...

, 1967 *''Spectacles'', 1968 *''Ghost in a Four-Room Apartment'', 1969 *''And It Rained'', 1969 *''A & The, or, William T. C. Baumgarten Comes to Town'', 1970 *''The World's Greatest Freak Show'', 1971 *''Franklin Stein'', 1972 *''Moe Q. McGlutch, He Smoked Too Much'', Parents, 1973 *''Who, Said Sue, Said Whoo?'', 1973 *''Moose, Goose & Little Nobody'', 1976 *''Twenty-Two, Twenty-Three'', 1976

Children’s novels

Raskin wrote four novels, all published by

E. P. Dutton E. P. Dutton was an American book publishing company. It was founded as a book retailer in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1852 by Edward Payson Dutton. Since 1986, it has been an imprint of Penguin Group. Creator Edward Payson Dutton (January 1, ...

. *'' The Mysterious Disappearance of Leon (I Mean Noel)'', 1971 *'' Figgs & Phantoms'', 1974 *'' The Tattooed Potato and Other Clues'', 1975 *'' The Westing Game'', 1978

As illustrator

Raskin also illustrated more than twenty books by other writers. * ''Happy Christmas: Tales for Boys and Girls'', edited by Claire H. Bishop, Ungar, 1956. * ''The Bound Man and Other Stories'', by Ilse Aichinger, transl. by Eric Mosbacher, New York: Noonday Press, 1956. * '' A Child's Christmas in Wales'', by

Dylan Thomas Dylan Marlais Thomas (27 October 1914 – 9 November 1953) was a Welsh poet and writer, whose works include the poems " Do not go gentle into that good night" and " And death shall have no dominion", as well as the "play for voices" ''Un ...

(1950); J. M. Dent, 1968. * ''Mama, I Wish I Was Snow, Child You'd Be Very Cold'', by Ruth Krauss, Atheneum, 1962. * ''Philosophy and History. The

Ernst Cassirer Ernst Alfred Cassirer ( ; ; July 28, 1874 – April 13, 1945) was a German philosopher and historian of philosophy. Trained within the Neo-Kantian Marburg School, he initially followed his mentor Hermann Cohen in attempting to supply an idealistic ...

Festschrift'', ed. Raymond Klibansky and H. J. Paton, 1963. (second edition) * ''Poems of Edgar Allan Poe'', selected by Dwight MacDonald, Crowell, 1965. * ''We Dickinson's'', by Aileen Fisher and Olive Rabe, Atheneum, 1965. * ''The Jewish Sabbath'', by Molly Cone, Crowell, 1966. * ''Paths of Poetry: Twenty-Five Poets and Their Poems'', ed. Louis Untermeyer, Delacorte, 1966. * ''Songs of Innocence (Volumes 1 & 2)'', by

William Blake William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his life, Blake has become a seminal figure in the history of the Romantic poetry, poetry and visual art of the Roma ...

(1789, 1794), music and illustrations by Ellen Raskin, Doubleday, 1966. * ''D. H. Lawrence: Poems Selected for Young People'', ed. William Cole, Viking, 1967. * ''Ellen Grae'', by Vera and Bill Cleaver, Lippincott, 1967. * ''Poems of Robert Herrick'', ed. Winfield T. Scott, Crowell, 1967. * ''Probability: The Science of Chance'', by Arthur G. Razzell and K. G. O. Watts, Doubleday, 1967. ‡ * ''This Is 4: the Idea of a Number'', by Razzell and Watts, Doubleday, 1967. ‡ * ''Books: A Book to Begin On'', by Susan Bartlett, Holt, 1968. * ''Inatuk's Friend'', by Suzanne Stark Morrow, Atlantic/Little, 1968. * ''A Paper Zoo: A Collection of Animal Poems by Modern American Poets'', edited by Renee K. Weiss, Macmillan, 1968. * ''Piping Down the Valleys Wild: Poetry for the Young of All Ages'', edited by Nancy Larrick, Delacorte, 1968. * ''Symmetry'', by Razzell and Watts, Doubleday, 1968. ‡ * ''We Alcotts'', by Aileen Fisher and Olive Rabe, Atheneum, 1968. * ''Circles and Curves'', by Razzell and Watts, Doubleday, 1969. ‡ * ''Come Along!'', by Rebecca Caudill, Holt, 1969. * ''Shrieks at Midnight: Macabre Poems, Eerie and Humorous'', edited by Sara and John E. Brewton, Crowell, 1969. * ''Three and the Shape of Three'', by Razzell and Watts, Doubleday, 1969. ‡ * '' Elidor'', by

Alan Garner Alan Garner (born 17 October 1934) is an English novelist best known for his children's fantasy novels and his retellings of traditional British folk tales. Much of his work is rooted in the landscape, history and folklore of his native count ...

(1965), Walck, 1970. * ''

Goblin Market ''Goblin Market'' is an 1862 Narrative poetry, narrative poem by Christina Rossetti. It tells the story of sisters Laura and Lizzie, who are tempted with fruit by goblin merchants. In a letter to her publisher, Rossetti claimed that the poem, w ...

'', by

Christina Rossetti Christina Georgina Rossetti (5 December 1830 – 29 December 1894) was an English writer of romanticism, romantic, devotional and children's poems, including "Goblin Market" and "Remember". She also wrote the words of two Christmas carols well k ...

(1862), Dutton, 1970. : ‡ Raskin illustrated at least five volumes in a series of 32- and 48-page mathematics books by Arthur C. Razzell and Kenneth George Oliver Watts, which was inaugurated by Doubleday in 1964.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Raskin, Ellen 1928 births 1984 deaths American children's writers American women children's writers American children's book illustrators American women children's book illustrators American mystery novelists Newbery Medal winners Newbery Honor winners University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni Writers from New York City Writers from Milwaukee Artists from New York City Artists from Wisconsin American women illustrators American women novelists American women mystery writers 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American women writers Novelists from New York (state) Novelists from Wisconsin 20th-century American women artists